Not Happy In Heaven? # 2
But now comes a yet more solemn question. Who reigns in Heaven? God. The chief happiness of Heaven will be to be with God, to see Him face to face, to be always in His presence, and to be always doing His will. When the Lord Jesus wished to comfort His disciples, He said, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2-3). It was the best comfort they could have - to know that they would see Him again and be with Him forever, because they loved Him.
Do you love Him? If not, you would not be happy in Heaven. For, even here below, to be always with a person whom we do not love - to live with him, to see him all day and every day, to be constantly under his eye and subject to his power - this would be anything but happiness!
How than could you be happy in Heaven, if you do not love God? You would not be happy there - you could not be. The very thing that would fill every other soul with unspeakable joy, would make you miserable. The presence of God that would give them such gladness as they never knew on earth - would only make you tremble. The eye which they would love to have resting on them - would fill you with fear. Like the guilty pair in the garden, you would wish to hide yourself from the presence of the Lord God (Genesis 3:8). Oh, reader, if you have no love to God on earth - then you would have none in Heaven; and then Heaven would be no place of happiness to you.
You cannot deny this. And yet you have a kind of feeling that, somehow or other, death and the resurrection will make such a change in you that you would then be happy in in Heaven - though you could not be happy there as you now are. Have you not some feeling of this sort?
No doubt, death and the resurrection will make a change - but not such a change as you suppose. They who now love God - will love Him better than. They who hate sin now - will then be set free from it; never will it vex or grieve them again. Those who now wish and strive to serve God, will serve Him perfectly in Heaven. And those who delight in public worship and in private prayer and yet are often troubled with wandering thoughts and cold hearts, will have no such troubles in the worship of Heaven. They will be so changed that they will be able to serve Him day and night in His temple" without weariness! They will desire no rest and no relief. They could not serve Him so now.
There will be a change therefore. But what sort of change? Only a change from a little - to a great deal of the same thing; from wishing - to being able; from striving - to doing. The person in Heaven will be of the same mind as he was upon earth; he will care for the same things and take pleasure in the same employments. Only he will be perfect there, and all that he will do and say and think will be good, whereas now he only wishes and strives that it may be so.
But death will not make such a change as to turn people from unholy, into holy people; from people who never cared for God at all, into people who love Him perfectly; from people who loved sin and scoffed at the good and seldom or never prayed, into people who delight in being with God and saints and angels forever. Death will make no change as this! Our Lord said, "Where your treasure is - there will you heart be also" (Matt. 6:21). So if a man's treasure is in Heaven - then his heart will be in Heaven already. If Heaven be the home to which he is going and for which he is longing - then there will be much that is heavenly in his heart and life even now.
No! Do not deceive yourself with any such thought! Death will make a great change - but it will make no such change as you imagine. If Heaven would not be a happy place to you, supposing you to be taken there now, in a moment, just as you are - then you would not be happy there, if at any time you were to die in your present state and find yourself there. No impenitent sinner, no unconverted person - would be happy in Heaven.
You must seek a change now, a thorough change, a new heart. Think no more of being changed somehow at death or after death, so as to be made fit for Heaven - but ask God to change you NOW. Surely you must see that you need a great change. The very fact that Heaven itself would be no place of happiness to you as you are - must show you how greatly you need to be changed. If you were to be save by Christ and your sins should be forgiven, and you should learn to hate sin and to love God and to delight in prayer and praise - then you would begin to be happy even here; and then you would feel and know that Heaven would be a happy place to you indeed.
Oh, be persuaded to seek salvation at once. What you need above all things, is the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart to turn you, change you, convert you, sanctify you. Man cannot do this work; it is the work of God alone.
Jesus came and died on the Cross for sinners! Will you not listen to Him? He alone can make you happy! If you go on refusing His offers, you cannot be saved; and you reach at last the miserable end. Seek Him as your Saviour - then He will indeed be a Saviour to you. He will give you a peace and happiness which the world will never give - and He will take you at last to that place which He has gone ahead to prepare - a place which you will find happy indeed - happy beyond what eye has seen, or ear heard, or heart conceived!
~Francis Bourdillon~
(The End)
Saturday, March 9, 2019
Saturday, March 2, 2019
Not Happy In Heaven? # 1
Not Happy In Heaven? # 1
Not happy in Heaven? You are surprised at reading these words. Not happy in Heaven? Why, is not Heaven a place in which all who get there will be happy? Yes, but there are thousands and thousands who never will get there! They are not in the way to Heaven; and, unless they become quite changed, they will never get to it. And further - even if they did, if they could, they would not be happy there!
Still you are surprised. You have never perhaps thought much about Heaven - what sort of a place it is and what people do there and what makes it happy. But you have never had any doubt that it is happy. You have always heard it talked of as the happy place; you have heard people of all sorts say that they wished to go there when they died, and hoped they would go there. So of course you have always thought it must be a happy place.
If I asked you where you hoped to go when you died, you would answer, "To heaven."
But are you sure that you would be happy there? Are you certain that it would be a happy place to you? Let us look into this matter more closely.
There is no sin in Heaven.
Do you love sin? Is there some one sin to which you are more given than to others, one which you will not leave off - a "bosom sin"? Have you such a sin? You could not keep that sin in Heaven. But you love it. Nothing can make you part from it here on earth. Then how could you be happy without it there in Heaven?
Grant for a moment that you could get to Heaven just as you are: unchanged, unconverted, with all your love for sin still in your heart - how could you be happy there without your sins? You would not be fit for such a place. You would not enjoy it. All your tastes and pleasures would be different from those in Heaven. Heaven would be no Heaven to you!
But what do people do in Heaven? Read here: "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple" (Revelation 7:15). Would that make you happy? Judge by what makes you happy now. Do you love the house of God? Are you glad when the Lord's Day comes, and you can go there again? Do you take delight in drawing near the throne of grace? Do worship and prayer give you comfort and make you happy? Prayer of all kinds - public prayer, family prayer, private prayer? If not, you would not be happy in Heaven.
What! You who neglect prayer in your family, and seldom bend the knee in private, and think it a burden to go to one service on Sunday, and perhaps do not even as much as that - can you suppose that you would be happy in Heaven, where they "serve Him day and night in His temple?"
Why would you love it there; any more than you do here? Why would not the worship of God in Heaven be as great a weariness to you as His worship on earth is? And then consider - here it comes only now and then; there it will be every day, day and night, always, forever. Would you be happy there?
And who live in Heaven? Not as on earth, people of all sorts, good and bad, serious and careless, holy and unholy - but only the holy. There will be none but holy people there. Do you love such people now? Are you glad to meet them? Do you take pleasure in their company and conversation? Perhaps not. Perhaps you rather dislike them, than otherwise. It may be that you sneer at them; and that (though you have no reason whatever to doubt their sincerity) you are in the habit of calling them hypocrites, and so forth.
If so, how could Heaven be a happy place for you? Heaven is the home of such people - their city, their country, the place to which they are going, and for which they are longing, the place where they will be forever - they, and none but they. If you do not love them now - would you love them then? If you do not like their company below - would you like it any better above? Only consider, you who mock them and jeer at them now - how would you feel toward them then, and how would you like to find yourself alone with them forever, with none of your favorite companions near, none near you but those very people whom you have disliked all your life long? Would you be happy with them?
~Francis Bourdillon~
(continued with # 2)
Not happy in Heaven? You are surprised at reading these words. Not happy in Heaven? Why, is not Heaven a place in which all who get there will be happy? Yes, but there are thousands and thousands who never will get there! They are not in the way to Heaven; and, unless they become quite changed, they will never get to it. And further - even if they did, if they could, they would not be happy there!
Still you are surprised. You have never perhaps thought much about Heaven - what sort of a place it is and what people do there and what makes it happy. But you have never had any doubt that it is happy. You have always heard it talked of as the happy place; you have heard people of all sorts say that they wished to go there when they died, and hoped they would go there. So of course you have always thought it must be a happy place.
If I asked you where you hoped to go when you died, you would answer, "To heaven."
But are you sure that you would be happy there? Are you certain that it would be a happy place to you? Let us look into this matter more closely.
There is no sin in Heaven.
Do you love sin? Is there some one sin to which you are more given than to others, one which you will not leave off - a "bosom sin"? Have you such a sin? You could not keep that sin in Heaven. But you love it. Nothing can make you part from it here on earth. Then how could you be happy without it there in Heaven?
Grant for a moment that you could get to Heaven just as you are: unchanged, unconverted, with all your love for sin still in your heart - how could you be happy there without your sins? You would not be fit for such a place. You would not enjoy it. All your tastes and pleasures would be different from those in Heaven. Heaven would be no Heaven to you!
But what do people do in Heaven? Read here: "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple" (Revelation 7:15). Would that make you happy? Judge by what makes you happy now. Do you love the house of God? Are you glad when the Lord's Day comes, and you can go there again? Do you take delight in drawing near the throne of grace? Do worship and prayer give you comfort and make you happy? Prayer of all kinds - public prayer, family prayer, private prayer? If not, you would not be happy in Heaven.
What! You who neglect prayer in your family, and seldom bend the knee in private, and think it a burden to go to one service on Sunday, and perhaps do not even as much as that - can you suppose that you would be happy in Heaven, where they "serve Him day and night in His temple?"
Why would you love it there; any more than you do here? Why would not the worship of God in Heaven be as great a weariness to you as His worship on earth is? And then consider - here it comes only now and then; there it will be every day, day and night, always, forever. Would you be happy there?
And who live in Heaven? Not as on earth, people of all sorts, good and bad, serious and careless, holy and unholy - but only the holy. There will be none but holy people there. Do you love such people now? Are you glad to meet them? Do you take pleasure in their company and conversation? Perhaps not. Perhaps you rather dislike them, than otherwise. It may be that you sneer at them; and that (though you have no reason whatever to doubt their sincerity) you are in the habit of calling them hypocrites, and so forth.
If so, how could Heaven be a happy place for you? Heaven is the home of such people - their city, their country, the place to which they are going, and for which they are longing, the place where they will be forever - they, and none but they. If you do not love them now - would you love them then? If you do not like their company below - would you like it any better above? Only consider, you who mock them and jeer at them now - how would you feel toward them then, and how would you like to find yourself alone with them forever, with none of your favorite companions near, none near you but those very people whom you have disliked all your life long? Would you be happy with them?
~Francis Bourdillon~
(continued with # 2)
Quotes From Classic Christian Authors # 1
Quotes From Classic Christian Authors # 1
Basically, there are two paths you can walk: faith or fear. It's impossible to simultaneously trust God and not trust God.
___________________________
Disappointment is inevitable. But to become discouraged, there's a choice I make. God would never discourage me. He would always point me to Himself to trust Him. Therefore, my discouragement is from satan. As you go through the emotions that we have, hostility is not from God, bitterness, unforgiveness, all of these are attacks from satan.
_____________________________
Fear stiffles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins.
_______________________
We can be tired, weary and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power and strength.
______________________
God's plan for enlarging His kingdom is so simple - one person telling another about the Saviour. Yet we're busy and full of excuses. Just remember, someone's eternal destiny is at stake. The joy you'll have when you meet that person in heaven will far exceed any discomfort you felt in sharing the gospel.
____________________
Earthly wisdom is doing what comes naturally. Godly wisdom is doing what the Holy Spirit compels us to do.
________________________
Too many Christians have a commitment of convenience. They'll stay faithful as long as it's safe and doesn't involve risk, rejection, or criticism. Instead of standing alone in the face of challenge or temptation, they check to see which way their friends are going.
_________________________
The best way in the world to deceive believers is to cloak a message in religious language and declare that it conveys some new insight from God.
_________________________
Hope founded upon a human being, a man-made philosophy or any institution is always misplaced because these things are unreliable and fleeting.
__________________________
God will never direct us to be prideful, arrogant and unforgiving, immoral or slothful or full of fear. We step into these things because we are insensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
____________________________
To have God speak to the heart is a majestic experience, and experience that people may miss if they monopolize the conversation and never pause to hear God's responses.
_________________________
God will never reject you. Whether you accept Him is your decision.
_______________________
One of satan's most deceptive and powerful ways of defeating us is to get us to believe a lie. And the biggest lie is that there are no consequences to our own doing. satan will give you whatever you ask for if it will lead you where he ultimately wants you!
__________________________
Every test, every trial, every heartache that's been significant, I can turn it over and see how God has turned it into good no matter what.
__________________________
When you become an instrument in God's hands as He transfers someone from the realm of darkness into the kingdom of His Son, you make a difference in the person's eternal destiny. Not only that, but satan also receives a devastating blow.
______________________
There is only one secure foundation: a genuine, deep relationship with Jesus Christ, which will carry you through any and all turmoil. No matter what storms are raging all around, you'll stand firm if you stand on His love.
__________________________
Motherhood is a great honor and privilege, yet it is also synonymous with servanthood. Every day women are called upon to selflessly meet the needs of their families. Whether they are awake feeding a baby, spending their time and money on less-than-grateful teenagers, or preparing meals, moms continuously put others before themselves!
_______________________
The bottom line in the Christian life is obedience and most people don't even like the word.
~Charles F. Stanley~
Basically, there are two paths you can walk: faith or fear. It's impossible to simultaneously trust God and not trust God.
___________________________
Disappointment is inevitable. But to become discouraged, there's a choice I make. God would never discourage me. He would always point me to Himself to trust Him. Therefore, my discouragement is from satan. As you go through the emotions that we have, hostility is not from God, bitterness, unforgiveness, all of these are attacks from satan.
_____________________________
Fear stiffles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins.
_______________________
We can be tired, weary and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power and strength.
______________________
God's plan for enlarging His kingdom is so simple - one person telling another about the Saviour. Yet we're busy and full of excuses. Just remember, someone's eternal destiny is at stake. The joy you'll have when you meet that person in heaven will far exceed any discomfort you felt in sharing the gospel.
____________________
Earthly wisdom is doing what comes naturally. Godly wisdom is doing what the Holy Spirit compels us to do.
________________________
Too many Christians have a commitment of convenience. They'll stay faithful as long as it's safe and doesn't involve risk, rejection, or criticism. Instead of standing alone in the face of challenge or temptation, they check to see which way their friends are going.
_________________________
The best way in the world to deceive believers is to cloak a message in religious language and declare that it conveys some new insight from God.
_________________________
Hope founded upon a human being, a man-made philosophy or any institution is always misplaced because these things are unreliable and fleeting.
__________________________
God will never direct us to be prideful, arrogant and unforgiving, immoral or slothful or full of fear. We step into these things because we are insensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
____________________________
To have God speak to the heart is a majestic experience, and experience that people may miss if they monopolize the conversation and never pause to hear God's responses.
_________________________
God will never reject you. Whether you accept Him is your decision.
_______________________
One of satan's most deceptive and powerful ways of defeating us is to get us to believe a lie. And the biggest lie is that there are no consequences to our own doing. satan will give you whatever you ask for if it will lead you where he ultimately wants you!
__________________________
Every test, every trial, every heartache that's been significant, I can turn it over and see how God has turned it into good no matter what.
__________________________
When you become an instrument in God's hands as He transfers someone from the realm of darkness into the kingdom of His Son, you make a difference in the person's eternal destiny. Not only that, but satan also receives a devastating blow.
______________________
There is only one secure foundation: a genuine, deep relationship with Jesus Christ, which will carry you through any and all turmoil. No matter what storms are raging all around, you'll stand firm if you stand on His love.
__________________________
Motherhood is a great honor and privilege, yet it is also synonymous with servanthood. Every day women are called upon to selflessly meet the needs of their families. Whether they are awake feeding a baby, spending their time and money on less-than-grateful teenagers, or preparing meals, moms continuously put others before themselves!
_______________________
The bottom line in the Christian life is obedience and most people don't even like the word.
~Charles F. Stanley~
The Cure For A Troubled Heart # 1
The Cure For A Troubled Heart # 1
"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1).
If you were asked this morning to name the most comforting passage in the Bible, what would you say? It would be interesting to know what your answer would be. Many in this presence, perhaps, would name the Twenty-third Psalm, the great Shepherd Psalm, as the most comforting passage in the Bible. Others would mention that oft-quoted verse in the eighth chapter of Romans: "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." But probably more of you would select the fourteenth chapter of John as the most comforting passage to be found in all the Bible. Every one of us ought to know that chapter by heart, even as we ought to know many other Scriptures by heart, because some day we may be blind and be unable to read at all, and then if we had hidden away in our hearts some Scriptures, we could read them even though our sight should be gone. Listen to the opening verse of this heavenly chapter:
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
Memorize that fourteenth chapter of John's gospel, all of it. You will need it.
Probably our deepest troubles in this world are occasioned from our loved ones. Jesus had just said that little groups of men about Him: "I am going away. Presently we are to be separated. I am going to die." And the announcement stupefied them, dazed them, horrified them. "Isn't there some mistake? He has just said that He must die. They are stupefied. They are horrified. The separations from our loved ones wring our hearts to the deepest depths.
Just a few days ago, I was called to say some words at the grave of a dear, faithful mother, and the grief of her children was so terrible that it seems to me I can never forget it. The oldest daughter did her best to quiet the several younger children, with no success, and presently she tried a new turn on them. She went down the line of children, all bewildered and heart-broken and said: "Stop you crying children. Maybe it is all a dream. Maybe we are all at home. Maybe we are in our beds and will wake up in the morning and find it just a bad dream, and mother will be with us. And for a moment she thus quieted them.
Oh, the deep wrenchings of heart when our loved ones go away! Jesus had just spoken some words that pierced like arrows the hearts of the twelve men, when He told them: "I am going away." Then He proceeded to comfort them, to point to the way of light and life, and then it was He who spoke this fourteenth chapter of John. It's opening sentence is the text for this morning: "Let not your heart be troubled."
Jesus proceeded in these words to point the cure for a troubled heart. How may a troubled heart be cured? That is an old question. It is as old as the human heart. How may a troubled heart be cured? It is the question of all humanity, of all the ages, of all conditions and classes: How may a troubled heart be cured?
All along there have been given various answers to that question. There is the answer of despair. When trouble came upon Job, wave upon wave, and all was swept from him - first his property, and later his children, and later his health, and later his friends - finally his wife said to the husband: "Curse God and die." That is the answer of despair, and the answer of despair is not a cure for a broken, troubled heart. The poor suicide takes that course - the course of despair.
Different causes make for the despair of the human spirit. Sometimes it is business reverses, and the man's spirit is broken, and down he goes, and he cannot recover himself anymore, and despair grips at the throat of his soul. Sometimes despair is occasioned by a shattered confidence. Oh, how terrible a thing it is to have our confidence in somebody fundamentally shattered! Sometimes one's despair comes because of ill health. What weakness men's poor spirits feel when their bodies are in the grip of disease! What allowances we ought to make for those who are sick! What pity and patience and forbearance we ought to exercise towards people racked with pain! Just here is an exhortation every one of us should earnestly heed.
But many a time the answer of despair follows the course of sin. I was in a Southern city a little while ago, speaking for a half-dozen days, and my host drove me by two beautiful residences - two of the fairest of the city - and told me that in one home had been a mother and in the other had been a father, and these two, because of sin which had made itself known, and was making itself known throughout the city, to the shame of both homes, had entered into a death pact, that they would each at a certain hour take the suicide's course. And they carried out such a death pact. Oh, how terrible is the course of despair for a human heart when such heart has grievously sinned!
~George W. Truett~
(continued with # 2)
"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1).
If you were asked this morning to name the most comforting passage in the Bible, what would you say? It would be interesting to know what your answer would be. Many in this presence, perhaps, would name the Twenty-third Psalm, the great Shepherd Psalm, as the most comforting passage in the Bible. Others would mention that oft-quoted verse in the eighth chapter of Romans: "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." But probably more of you would select the fourteenth chapter of John as the most comforting passage to be found in all the Bible. Every one of us ought to know that chapter by heart, even as we ought to know many other Scriptures by heart, because some day we may be blind and be unable to read at all, and then if we had hidden away in our hearts some Scriptures, we could read them even though our sight should be gone. Listen to the opening verse of this heavenly chapter:
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
Memorize that fourteenth chapter of John's gospel, all of it. You will need it.
Probably our deepest troubles in this world are occasioned from our loved ones. Jesus had just said that little groups of men about Him: "I am going away. Presently we are to be separated. I am going to die." And the announcement stupefied them, dazed them, horrified them. "Isn't there some mistake? He has just said that He must die. They are stupefied. They are horrified. The separations from our loved ones wring our hearts to the deepest depths.
Just a few days ago, I was called to say some words at the grave of a dear, faithful mother, and the grief of her children was so terrible that it seems to me I can never forget it. The oldest daughter did her best to quiet the several younger children, with no success, and presently she tried a new turn on them. She went down the line of children, all bewildered and heart-broken and said: "Stop you crying children. Maybe it is all a dream. Maybe we are all at home. Maybe we are in our beds and will wake up in the morning and find it just a bad dream, and mother will be with us. And for a moment she thus quieted them.
Oh, the deep wrenchings of heart when our loved ones go away! Jesus had just spoken some words that pierced like arrows the hearts of the twelve men, when He told them: "I am going away." Then He proceeded to comfort them, to point to the way of light and life, and then it was He who spoke this fourteenth chapter of John. It's opening sentence is the text for this morning: "Let not your heart be troubled."
Jesus proceeded in these words to point the cure for a troubled heart. How may a troubled heart be cured? That is an old question. It is as old as the human heart. How may a troubled heart be cured? It is the question of all humanity, of all the ages, of all conditions and classes: How may a troubled heart be cured?
All along there have been given various answers to that question. There is the answer of despair. When trouble came upon Job, wave upon wave, and all was swept from him - first his property, and later his children, and later his health, and later his friends - finally his wife said to the husband: "Curse God and die." That is the answer of despair, and the answer of despair is not a cure for a broken, troubled heart. The poor suicide takes that course - the course of despair.
Different causes make for the despair of the human spirit. Sometimes it is business reverses, and the man's spirit is broken, and down he goes, and he cannot recover himself anymore, and despair grips at the throat of his soul. Sometimes despair is occasioned by a shattered confidence. Oh, how terrible a thing it is to have our confidence in somebody fundamentally shattered! Sometimes one's despair comes because of ill health. What weakness men's poor spirits feel when their bodies are in the grip of disease! What allowances we ought to make for those who are sick! What pity and patience and forbearance we ought to exercise towards people racked with pain! Just here is an exhortation every one of us should earnestly heed.
But many a time the answer of despair follows the course of sin. I was in a Southern city a little while ago, speaking for a half-dozen days, and my host drove me by two beautiful residences - two of the fairest of the city - and told me that in one home had been a mother and in the other had been a father, and these two, because of sin which had made itself known, and was making itself known throughout the city, to the shame of both homes, had entered into a death pact, that they would each at a certain hour take the suicide's course. And they carried out such a death pact. Oh, how terrible is the course of despair for a human heart when such heart has grievously sinned!
~George W. Truett~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, February 23, 2019
The Deeper Christian Life # 21
The Deeper Christian Life # 21
If you were to ask me of my own experience, I would say this: That there have been times when I hardly knew myself what to think of God's answer to my prayer in this matter; but I have found it my joy and my strength to take and maintain my position, and given myself over to God's grace that led me to Christ; and I stand before Thee in confidence that Thou will keep Thy covenant with me to the end. I am an empty vessel; Thou art the God that fillest all. God is faithful, and He gives the promised blessing in His own time and method. Beloved for God's sake, be content with nothing less than full health and full spiritual life. "Be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Let me return now to the two expressions with which I began: "The first duty of every clergyman is humbly to ask of God that all that he wants done in those who hear his preaching may be first truly and fully done in himself." Brethren, I ask you, is it not the longing of your hearts to have a congregation of believer's filled with the Holy Spirit? Is it not your unceasing prayer for the Church of Christ, in which you minister, that the Spirit of holiness, the very Spirit of God's Son, the spirit of unworldliness and of heavenly-mindedness, may possess it, and that the Spirit of victory and of power over sin fill its children? If you are willing for that to come, your first duty is to have it yourself.
And then the second sentence - "the first duty of every clergyman is to lead those who have been brought to Christ to be, entirely filled with the Holy Spirit." How can I do my work with success? I can conceive what a privilege it is to be led by the Spirit of God in all that I am doing, In studying my Bible, praying, visiting organizing, or whatever I am doing, God is willing to guide me by His Holy Spirit. It sometimes becomes a humiliating experience to me that I am unwatchful, and do not wait for the blessing; when that is the case, God can bring again. But there is also the blessed experience of God's guiding hand, often through deep darkness, by His Holy Spirit. Let us walk about among the people as men of God, that we may not only preach about a book, and what we believe with our hearts to be true, but may preach what we are and what we have in our own experience. Jesus calls us witnesses for Him; what does that mean? The Holy Spirit brought down to heaven from men a participation in the glory and the joy of the exalted Christ. Peter and the others who spoke with Him were filled with this heavenly Spirit; and thus Christ spoke in them, and accomplished the work for them. O brethren, if you and I be Christ's we should take our places and claim our privilege. We are witnesses to the truth which we believe - witnesses to the reality of what Jesus does and what He is, by His presence in our own souls. If we are willing to be such witnesses for Christ, let us go to our God; let us make confession and surrender; and by faith claim what God has for us as ministers of the gospel and workers in His service. God will prove faithful. Even at this very moment, He will touch our hearts with a deep consciousness of His faithfulness and of His presence; and He will give to every hungering, trustful one that which we continually need.
Consecration
"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things comes of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee"
To be able to offer anything to God is a perfect mystery. Consecration is a miracle of grace. "All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee". In these words there are four very precious thoughts I want to try and make clear to you.
1. God is the Owner of all, and gives all to us.
2. We have nothing but what we receive - but everything we need we may receive from God.
3. It is our privilege and honor to give back to God what we receive from Him.
4. God has a double joy in His possessions when He receives back from us what He gave.
And when I apply this to my life - to my body, to my wealth, property, our entire selves, on account of what is all His? Then what a blessed lesson it will teach us of what our position is! I have to do with a God whose nature is to be always giving, and mine to be always receiving. Just as the lock and key fit each other, God the Giver and I the receiver fit into each other. How often we trouble about things, and about praying for them, instead of going back to the root of things, and saying, "Lord, I only crave to be the receptacle of what the Will of God mans for me; of the power and the gifts and the love and the Spirit of God." What can be more simple? Come as a receptacle - cleansed, emptied and humble.
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 22)
If you were to ask me of my own experience, I would say this: That there have been times when I hardly knew myself what to think of God's answer to my prayer in this matter; but I have found it my joy and my strength to take and maintain my position, and given myself over to God's grace that led me to Christ; and I stand before Thee in confidence that Thou will keep Thy covenant with me to the end. I am an empty vessel; Thou art the God that fillest all. God is faithful, and He gives the promised blessing in His own time and method. Beloved for God's sake, be content with nothing less than full health and full spiritual life. "Be filled with the Holy Spirit."
Let me return now to the two expressions with which I began: "The first duty of every clergyman is humbly to ask of God that all that he wants done in those who hear his preaching may be first truly and fully done in himself." Brethren, I ask you, is it not the longing of your hearts to have a congregation of believer's filled with the Holy Spirit? Is it not your unceasing prayer for the Church of Christ, in which you minister, that the Spirit of holiness, the very Spirit of God's Son, the spirit of unworldliness and of heavenly-mindedness, may possess it, and that the Spirit of victory and of power over sin fill its children? If you are willing for that to come, your first duty is to have it yourself.
And then the second sentence - "the first duty of every clergyman is to lead those who have been brought to Christ to be, entirely filled with the Holy Spirit." How can I do my work with success? I can conceive what a privilege it is to be led by the Spirit of God in all that I am doing, In studying my Bible, praying, visiting organizing, or whatever I am doing, God is willing to guide me by His Holy Spirit. It sometimes becomes a humiliating experience to me that I am unwatchful, and do not wait for the blessing; when that is the case, God can bring again. But there is also the blessed experience of God's guiding hand, often through deep darkness, by His Holy Spirit. Let us walk about among the people as men of God, that we may not only preach about a book, and what we believe with our hearts to be true, but may preach what we are and what we have in our own experience. Jesus calls us witnesses for Him; what does that mean? The Holy Spirit brought down to heaven from men a participation in the glory and the joy of the exalted Christ. Peter and the others who spoke with Him were filled with this heavenly Spirit; and thus Christ spoke in them, and accomplished the work for them. O brethren, if you and I be Christ's we should take our places and claim our privilege. We are witnesses to the truth which we believe - witnesses to the reality of what Jesus does and what He is, by His presence in our own souls. If we are willing to be such witnesses for Christ, let us go to our God; let us make confession and surrender; and by faith claim what God has for us as ministers of the gospel and workers in His service. God will prove faithful. Even at this very moment, He will touch our hearts with a deep consciousness of His faithfulness and of His presence; and He will give to every hungering, trustful one that which we continually need.
Consecration
"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things comes of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee"
To be able to offer anything to God is a perfect mystery. Consecration is a miracle of grace. "All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee". In these words there are four very precious thoughts I want to try and make clear to you.
1. God is the Owner of all, and gives all to us.
2. We have nothing but what we receive - but everything we need we may receive from God.
3. It is our privilege and honor to give back to God what we receive from Him.
4. God has a double joy in His possessions when He receives back from us what He gave.
And when I apply this to my life - to my body, to my wealth, property, our entire selves, on account of what is all His? Then what a blessed lesson it will teach us of what our position is! I have to do with a God whose nature is to be always giving, and mine to be always receiving. Just as the lock and key fit each other, God the Giver and I the receiver fit into each other. How often we trouble about things, and about praying for them, instead of going back to the root of things, and saying, "Lord, I only crave to be the receptacle of what the Will of God mans for me; of the power and the gifts and the love and the Spirit of God." What can be more simple? Come as a receptacle - cleansed, emptied and humble.
~Andrew Murray~
(continued with # 22)
Broken Down Altars # 7 (and others)
Broken Down Altars # 7 (and others)
Elijah called upon the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God who made the ravens feed him every morning and every night; the God who made the clouds obey Him; the God who made the stars witness that He was true; the God who burned Sodom and Gomorrah with fire; the God who drowned the world with a flood; the God who saved Noah; the God who said, "Let there be light"; the God who shut the lions mouths for Daniel; the God who didn't let the fire burn Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace because they wouldn't bow down to Nebuchadnezzar and his idol of gold.
The prayer that Elijah offered to God that brought fire down from Heaven was short - only sixty-three words - and it burned up and consumed everything. When the fire fell, everyone on the mount knew it was the fire of the Lord. It licked up the water; it licked up the dust; it licked up the stones; and the people fell on their faces - all except these 450 stiff-necked, uncircumcised, black-hearted, white-livered false prophets of Baal.
Oh, hear me! God has plenty of the same kind of fire up in Heaven to pour down on us! And He will give it to us and to our country just as freely as He poured it down on the altar on Mount Carmel.
When the fire fell, how soon there was purity on the mountain! Oh, let God's blessing fall and there will not be a house of ill-fame; there will not be a drunkard; a thief, a panderer, a prostitute, there will not be a stick-up or a gunman to do the job. There will not be one blasphemer left on God's dirt. Everything that stands in the way of the Lord will be consumed.
The idolatrous prophets - all of them - had to die before dark. What happened then will always happen when God has a chance to reveal Himself. The prophets of Baal must die. When God appears on the scene, other things must go. It won't do to parole there prophets of Baal on their good behavior. They had to do what they did on Mount Carmel - put them to the sword. They had to be slain.
You will have to slay uncleanliness; you will have to slay lasciviousness; you will have to slay adultery; you will have to slay enmity; you will have to slay strive; you will have to slay jealousy; you will have to slay wrath; you will have to slay divisions; you will have to slay heresies; you will have to slay these infamous lies that men are preaching from their pulpits that lead people away from God. You will have to slay envy; you will have to slay drunkenness; you will have to slay lying; you will have to slay stealing; you will have to slay reviling. Before the fire from God comes, the prophets of Baal must die, sir!
Do you want God's blessing? Do you want it on your home? In your church? On your city/ On America? Then slay utterly! Repair the altar of the Lord that is broken down!
~Billy Sunday~
(The End)
_______________________________
Merrily On In the Way To Hell
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).
Certainly there is a hell, a place of torment provided and prepared for all wicked and ungodly people.
Ah, how many are there that rejoice to do evil, and delight in their abominations, and take pleasure in unrighteousness! But could men do thus, dared men do thus - did they really believe that hell was prepared and fitted for them, and that the fiery lake was but a little before them?
Heaven is a place where all is joyful - and hell is a place where all is doleful. In heaven there is nothing but happiness - and in hell there is nothing but heaviness, nothing but endless, easeless, and remediless torments. Did men really believe this, how could they go so merrily on in the way to hell?
~Thomas Brooks~
___________________________
Despair
Continual imprisonment in hell, arises from man's not being able to pay the price. The wicked go to hell as their prison, because they can never pay their debts. The damned must bear the wrath of God to all eternity, because they can never satisfy the justice of God for sin. Therefore they must lie in hell, world without end.
Despair is an unavoidable companion, attending the pains of the second death - as all reprobates do experience. Desperation is an utter hopelessness of any good, and a certain expectation and waiting on the worst that can befall; and this is the lot and portion of the damned in hell. The wretched sinner in hell, seeing the sentence passed against him; God's purpose fulfilled, never to be reversed; the gates of hell made fast upon him; and a great gulf fixed between hell and heaven, which renders his escape impossible - he now gives up all, and reckons on nothing but uttermost misery in his remediless, woeful condition.
~Thomas Brooks~
Elijah called upon the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God who made the ravens feed him every morning and every night; the God who made the clouds obey Him; the God who made the stars witness that He was true; the God who burned Sodom and Gomorrah with fire; the God who drowned the world with a flood; the God who saved Noah; the God who said, "Let there be light"; the God who shut the lions mouths for Daniel; the God who didn't let the fire burn Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace because they wouldn't bow down to Nebuchadnezzar and his idol of gold.
The prayer that Elijah offered to God that brought fire down from Heaven was short - only sixty-three words - and it burned up and consumed everything. When the fire fell, everyone on the mount knew it was the fire of the Lord. It licked up the water; it licked up the dust; it licked up the stones; and the people fell on their faces - all except these 450 stiff-necked, uncircumcised, black-hearted, white-livered false prophets of Baal.
Oh, hear me! God has plenty of the same kind of fire up in Heaven to pour down on us! And He will give it to us and to our country just as freely as He poured it down on the altar on Mount Carmel.
When the fire fell, how soon there was purity on the mountain! Oh, let God's blessing fall and there will not be a house of ill-fame; there will not be a drunkard; a thief, a panderer, a prostitute, there will not be a stick-up or a gunman to do the job. There will not be one blasphemer left on God's dirt. Everything that stands in the way of the Lord will be consumed.
The idolatrous prophets - all of them - had to die before dark. What happened then will always happen when God has a chance to reveal Himself. The prophets of Baal must die. When God appears on the scene, other things must go. It won't do to parole there prophets of Baal on their good behavior. They had to do what they did on Mount Carmel - put them to the sword. They had to be slain.
You will have to slay uncleanliness; you will have to slay lasciviousness; you will have to slay adultery; you will have to slay enmity; you will have to slay strive; you will have to slay jealousy; you will have to slay wrath; you will have to slay divisions; you will have to slay heresies; you will have to slay these infamous lies that men are preaching from their pulpits that lead people away from God. You will have to slay envy; you will have to slay drunkenness; you will have to slay lying; you will have to slay stealing; you will have to slay reviling. Before the fire from God comes, the prophets of Baal must die, sir!
Do you want God's blessing? Do you want it on your home? In your church? On your city/ On America? Then slay utterly! Repair the altar of the Lord that is broken down!
~Billy Sunday~
(The End)
_______________________________
Merrily On In the Way To Hell
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).
Certainly there is a hell, a place of torment provided and prepared for all wicked and ungodly people.
Ah, how many are there that rejoice to do evil, and delight in their abominations, and take pleasure in unrighteousness! But could men do thus, dared men do thus - did they really believe that hell was prepared and fitted for them, and that the fiery lake was but a little before them?
Heaven is a place where all is joyful - and hell is a place where all is doleful. In heaven there is nothing but happiness - and in hell there is nothing but heaviness, nothing but endless, easeless, and remediless torments. Did men really believe this, how could they go so merrily on in the way to hell?
~Thomas Brooks~
___________________________
Despair
Continual imprisonment in hell, arises from man's not being able to pay the price. The wicked go to hell as their prison, because they can never pay their debts. The damned must bear the wrath of God to all eternity, because they can never satisfy the justice of God for sin. Therefore they must lie in hell, world without end.
Despair is an unavoidable companion, attending the pains of the second death - as all reprobates do experience. Desperation is an utter hopelessness of any good, and a certain expectation and waiting on the worst that can befall; and this is the lot and portion of the damned in hell. The wretched sinner in hell, seeing the sentence passed against him; God's purpose fulfilled, never to be reversed; the gates of hell made fast upon him; and a great gulf fixed between hell and heaven, which renders his escape impossible - he now gives up all, and reckons on nothing but uttermost misery in his remediless, woeful condition.
~Thomas Brooks~
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Broken Down Altars # 6
Broken Down Altars # 6
Elijah Expected Results
The next thing I notice is, Elijah went to the mountain prepared for results. He had no doubt about its being God's set time to work. He knew God so well that he was willing to meet the horde for Him. That is why he nagged the opposition to do their worst.
Trust God to give you the great things. Don't be afraid of the devil outflanking the Lord. Never! God has never lost a battle and God will never lose a battle.
Elijah wanted the prophets of Baal to humble themselves. He knew that the more fuss they made, the easier it would be to show that they were a bunch of frauds and humbugs.
It has been computed by naturalists that one mustard plant will ripen and scatter through a season thousands of seeds, and that if they all took root and grew and then scattered their seeds, in ten years all vegetation in the United States would be choked out and killed.
One saloon or beer joint in a community can smoother, choke and kill enough manhood, womanhood and childhood to blight the entire community.
I read of a woman in New York called "Typhoid Mary." She was known by scientists as a carrier of the dreaded disease. After recovering from typhoid fever, a strange phenomenon happened - the germ remained in her. Wherever she went she scattered germs, giving typhoid fever to scores of people To keep from further spreading the germs, she was finally put in a hospital.
The saloon is a germ-spreader, spreading the germ of drunkenness the germ of crime, the germ of poverty, the germ of hereditary mental and physical weakness. Liquor curses and blights the world! Said a fellow to me the other day, "A glass of beer never hurt anybody." Of course he lied. A glass of beer never did anybody any good. It is that first glass that always leads to a drunkard's grave. If a man never took the first one, he would never take the last one.
Now nothing was slighted, and nothing was hurried through. Too many of you are in a hurry to get this meeting over. You pay closer attention to your watch than to the preacher. Men will go fishing and stand up to their knees in water for hours without a nibble, and say they are having a good time. Yet they will fidget around when they go to church like a boy with a hornet in his pants! Don't be in a hurry with God. You can't put the pressure on when you want to get through.
Be Sure You Pray To The Right God!
In their prayer meetings, the prophets of Baal were as much in earnest as anybody else. They called on Baal from morning until evening, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" They tore their clothes, they cut themselves until blood gushed out, thinking that that self-inflicted suffering might appeal to Baal. Elijah said, "Cry louder! You've got on the soft petal. Cry louder! "He's talking or perhaps he's hunting, or he's gone on a journey, or perhaps he's asleep or gone joy-riding! Cry louder!"
Hold on! It's a waste of time to pray to the wrong god. Don't pray to money; don't pray to culture; don't pray to philanthropy; don't pray to social greatness! Baal never heard - never! And he will never hear. Elijah addressed a prayer to the God from whom he expected help. And he had his answer before sundown! The three years that he spent out there in the cave taught him how to get a prayer through to the throne of God in three-minutes - something that has never been taught in any theological seminary!!
Charon and Serapis had their drawbacks, yes; but they also had their advantages. War has both its advantages and its drawbacks. Many of the blessings, which we enjoy today, were bought with blood on the battlefield. There are some thing that you never get without war. Nobody wants war. But there are some things we never get without it. Never! Therefore, out in the cave of Charon and Serapis had their drawbacks as well as their advantages.
I have met a lot of people on my
Journey here below
Who were always discontent, grumbling
About their lot of woe;
Never seemed to know the blessings
that a thrill might secrete,
Or in passing take a lesson from the
Hobo on the street.
But they fancied that the roses should
Be grown without a thorn;
That it ought to rain at midnight and
Be pleasant in the morn;
They never paused to listen, nor to
Reason out alone
That luster of the jewel is due to
The grinding of the stone!
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 7)
Elijah Expected Results
The next thing I notice is, Elijah went to the mountain prepared for results. He had no doubt about its being God's set time to work. He knew God so well that he was willing to meet the horde for Him. That is why he nagged the opposition to do their worst.
Trust God to give you the great things. Don't be afraid of the devil outflanking the Lord. Never! God has never lost a battle and God will never lose a battle.
Elijah wanted the prophets of Baal to humble themselves. He knew that the more fuss they made, the easier it would be to show that they were a bunch of frauds and humbugs.
It has been computed by naturalists that one mustard plant will ripen and scatter through a season thousands of seeds, and that if they all took root and grew and then scattered their seeds, in ten years all vegetation in the United States would be choked out and killed.
One saloon or beer joint in a community can smoother, choke and kill enough manhood, womanhood and childhood to blight the entire community.
I read of a woman in New York called "Typhoid Mary." She was known by scientists as a carrier of the dreaded disease. After recovering from typhoid fever, a strange phenomenon happened - the germ remained in her. Wherever she went she scattered germs, giving typhoid fever to scores of people To keep from further spreading the germs, she was finally put in a hospital.
The saloon is a germ-spreader, spreading the germ of drunkenness the germ of crime, the germ of poverty, the germ of hereditary mental and physical weakness. Liquor curses and blights the world! Said a fellow to me the other day, "A glass of beer never hurt anybody." Of course he lied. A glass of beer never did anybody any good. It is that first glass that always leads to a drunkard's grave. If a man never took the first one, he would never take the last one.
Now nothing was slighted, and nothing was hurried through. Too many of you are in a hurry to get this meeting over. You pay closer attention to your watch than to the preacher. Men will go fishing and stand up to their knees in water for hours without a nibble, and say they are having a good time. Yet they will fidget around when they go to church like a boy with a hornet in his pants! Don't be in a hurry with God. You can't put the pressure on when you want to get through.
Be Sure You Pray To The Right God!
In their prayer meetings, the prophets of Baal were as much in earnest as anybody else. They called on Baal from morning until evening, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" They tore their clothes, they cut themselves until blood gushed out, thinking that that self-inflicted suffering might appeal to Baal. Elijah said, "Cry louder! You've got on the soft petal. Cry louder! "He's talking or perhaps he's hunting, or he's gone on a journey, or perhaps he's asleep or gone joy-riding! Cry louder!"
Hold on! It's a waste of time to pray to the wrong god. Don't pray to money; don't pray to culture; don't pray to philanthropy; don't pray to social greatness! Baal never heard - never! And he will never hear. Elijah addressed a prayer to the God from whom he expected help. And he had his answer before sundown! The three years that he spent out there in the cave taught him how to get a prayer through to the throne of God in three-minutes - something that has never been taught in any theological seminary!!
Charon and Serapis had their drawbacks, yes; but they also had their advantages. War has both its advantages and its drawbacks. Many of the blessings, which we enjoy today, were bought with blood on the battlefield. There are some thing that you never get without war. Nobody wants war. But there are some things we never get without it. Never! Therefore, out in the cave of Charon and Serapis had their drawbacks as well as their advantages.
I have met a lot of people on my
Journey here below
Who were always discontent, grumbling
About their lot of woe;
Never seemed to know the blessings
that a thrill might secrete,
Or in passing take a lesson from the
Hobo on the street.
But they fancied that the roses should
Be grown without a thorn;
That it ought to rain at midnight and
Be pleasant in the morn;
They never paused to listen, nor to
Reason out alone
That luster of the jewel is due to
The grinding of the stone!
~Billy Sunday~
(continued with # 7)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)